


Stubborn Love

by abetterwayto



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 12:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4304745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abetterwayto/pseuds/abetterwayto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into each month of Jeff's senior year and how his relationship with Annie changes over the course of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stubborn Love

**Author's Note:**

> I've been telling myself for ages that I'm going to go through and edit all my fics on ff.net and post them over here. I have a week off so I figured I'd start the process now (I'm sure it'll still take me a million years). Anyway, I wrote this awhile ago before season 4 even aired, so it doesn't take into account anything that happened in s4-6. If you haven't read it before, I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Oh and if you wanna follow me on tumblr, find me at the url alisonnbries :)

_And I don't blame you dear, for running like you did all these years._  
_I would do the same, you'd best believe._  
_And the highway signs say we're close, but I don't read those things anymore.  
_ _I never trusted my own eyes._

 _-_ Stubborn Love by The Lumineers

* * *

 

In September, Jeff tells the group he’s looking for his father. They all have the expected reactions:

Shirley tells him ‘that’s nice’.

Pierce calls him gay, which he’s used to at this point.

Abed says something about overreaching arc and character development, once again he’s used to that.

Britta offers free therapy, because he’s totally going to take her up on _that_.

Troy, well, Troy shouts about some video game. Honestly, Jeff didn’t think he was paying attention to the conversation.

And Annie smiles softly at him, but doesn’t say anything else.

He feels a small thread of disappointment because he thought Annie would say more or offer to help or something…but he quickly shakes that away and they get back to “studying”.

He’s packing up his things and everyone’s heading home or to class. He doesn’t notice that he and Annie are the only ones in the room until he looks up and she’s looking at him hesitantly.

“I’m really proud of you, Jeff.” She says softly. “If you need anything at all…”  

“Thanks, Annie.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I promise I won’t try and diagnose you like Britta.” He snorts and falls into step next to her.

“And we all appreciate that.” They’re silent for a few moments as they reach her car in the parking lot.

“Seriously, Jeff.” She says placing her hand on his forearm. He glances down and tries not to notice the way his skin feels hotter where she’s touching it. Instead of responding, he gently pulls her into his arms giving her a tight hug. She hugs him back and he ignores the loss he feels when she steps away. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, Abed invited me over for an Inspector Spacetime marathon.” He informs her, although his voice is less than enthused.

“Aw, it could be fun.” She chuckles. “Besides I’m making dinner tonight, so at least you won’t have to eat buttered noodles.”

“Ugh, even thinking of that as a meal is causing weight gain.” Annie rolls her eyes.

“You’re so obsessive, live a little.”

“Being figure conscious doesn’t make me obsessive, Annie.”

“No, but the level at which you care, does. And don’t even get me started on the amount of hair care products you have.” Jeff opens his mouth, ready to heatedly defend himself when he catches sight of Annie’s wide smirk. He shakes his head, trying his hardest to suppress a smile.

 “Oh, you better watch your back,.”

“What are you going to do? Attack me with hairspray?” She questions with a laugh.

“Asks the girl who once pepper-sprayed herself.” He points out.

“Irrelevant.” Annie mutters under her breath glaring up at him. He shakes his head in amusement and turns to walk to his car.

“This isn’t over, Jeff!” She yells back at him.

“Oh, I look forward to finishing it, Edison.” He winks before sliding into his Lexus.

Okay, so that conversation was a little bit more than flirty and maybe perhaps he felt a rush of emotions when she said she’ll be there for him, but that’s it. Sometimes friends flirt. It’s unavoidable. Besides, he has chemistry with everyone. He’s Jeff Winger.

* * *

They spend Halloween at Greendale. Of course, because they're always at this godforsaken place. The only difference is this Halloween is pretty uneventful. Pierce isn’t tripping on Ecstasy, Jeff’s pretty positive the whole party isn’t about to get mass roofied (he still doesn’t buy that whole story, but it is Greendale), and he’s not worried about any member of the group being a sociopath. It’s just an average Greendale party, for once. Then again there are very few things that are average at Greendale, but everything’s relatively normal. Until Annie shows up.

It’s not the Annie showing up part that makes it weird, because of course Annie shows up. She’s at every Greendale event ever. It’s what she’s wearing that’s different. And yeah, it is a Halloween party, so Jeff should have expected a costume but…he isn’t prepared for this.

He’s not even sure what she’s supposed to be. He’s assuming something from one of the many movies or television shows Troy and Abed obsess over, because their costumes seem to be running with the same theme. But Annie looks indescribably sexy.

The only time he thinks she looked sexier than she does at this moment was her paintball outfit from the end of sophomore year. That one will never be topped. Although this costume comes really, really close.

He watches as the rest of the males at the party take notice to what Annie’s wearing and the way they look at her makes his blood simmer. Instead of thinking about why that is, he walks over to Annie.

“Did they rope you into a group costume?” He asks stepping up behind her and talking low in her ear. She jumps in surprise and turns to look at him.

“Oh yeah,” she says with a shrug. “What do you think?” She glances up at him innocently gesturing to the costume. He swallows hard.

“I think it’s a, uh, it’s a really nice costume.” He coughs loudly once. “It looks good on you.” Annie smiles at him as if she knows the affect she’s having on him, but she also blushes. So, at least he knows he still has an affect on her. He’s not alone in this.

“Thanks, Jeff!” She beams bouncing up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. He merely nods as she walks off into the party.

Annie is going to be the death of him.

* * *

The first time they sleep together, it’s Thanksgiving, which is almost sad. Only almost, though, because let’s face it, Jeff finally had sex with Annie and even if it did happen on Thanksgiving it’s really not that sad.

The only reason they’re even together that day is because everyone else in the group has plans. Abed and Shirley are with their respective families, Britta and Troy are going to the mall to protest capitalism and Black Friday, or something like that Jeff was only half listening when they told him. And Pierce, well Pierce is doing God knows what, but Jeff is positive that he doesn’t want to be a part of it.

So, when Annie calls him around 1 and asks if he wants to hang out, he jumps at the opportunity. Before she called, he was planning on spending the day playing a drinking game with himself while watching the parade, but if Annie wants to spend the day with him, he’s not going to pass it up.

Even though things were awkward with them at the beginning of last year, by the end they had become better friends than they ever were before. And Jeff was, and still is, really happy about it. Annie is…well, she’s his best friend, as corny as that sounds. He tells Annie things that he would never tell anyone else, when he has a bad day, her smile can brighten it up. He wants to kick himself for how much he sounds like a teenage girl, but it’s true.

So, when he has sex with her, he’s a little bit mad at himself. Sure, neither of them were entirely sober but he was finally back on solid ground with Annie. He didn’t want to fuck it all up again. He sits on the couch his face in his hands and he’s waiting for Annie to wake up, so he can face the inevitable.

She’s going to think it meant something and he’s going to have to let her down gently. His mind immediately comes up with scenarios where he doesn’t let her down and he tells her exactly how he feels, but he quickly shuts that down. He can’t do this with Annie. He will hurt her and then the group will hate him and he’ll hate himself. No. He won’t let that happen.

“Jeff?” Annie asks tentatively walking into the living room.

“Hey.”

“Look, don’t worry about this.” His eyes widen and he looks over at her in surprise as she takes a seat on the couch. “I’m not the same girl I was all those years ago when you kissed me at the Tranny Dance, okay?” He wants to tell her that he knows that, she’s gone from an insecure girl to an amazing young woman right in front of his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. “I won’t read too much into things. We were both a little drunk and a little lonely. No one needs to find out about this.”

“Are you sure?” He asks hesitantly. He doesn’t know if he’s asking for her benefit or his, but the words leave his mouth before he can stop them.

“Yeah,” she gives him a small smile and he realizes she’s not lying for his benefit. She’s really okay with it. “But I don’t want things to be weird between us. I really like hanging out with you.”

“Me too,” Jeff admits quietly. “Okay, get dressed and then we’re going to breakfast.” Annie brightens at the mention of food and quickly scampers off to his bedroom to get ready. As soon as she’s gone he collapses against the couch. He doesn’t know what he had been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that.

She’s totally and completely fine with everything? She’s finally over him and he feels this twinge of emotion. He knows it’s disappointment, but he convinces himself its relief.

Annie Edison is finally over him. And it’s definitely a good thing. It is.

Annie comes out moments later dressed in the same cardigan and skirt ensemble form the day before and he tries not to let his eyes linger too long, but it’s hard. Before he thought Annie was attractive, definitely, but now it’s different. Because now they had slept together and now he knows what’s under that cardigan and if he starts thinking about that, they’ll never make it to breakfast. So, he shakes the thoughts out of his head and offers her his arm.

“Milady.”

“Milord.”

* * *

The next time it happens is two weeks later. It’s finals week, they’re both stressed out. They meet in, what he calls, “their” supply closet. It’s quick and they’re back to the study room before anyone notices they’re missing.

Annie flashes him a smile before taking her usual seat.

Jeff doesn’t regret it at all.

\----

For Christmas, Annie recreates her paintball outfit.

It’s the best present Jeff’s ever received.

* * *

By January, it becomes a thing, which he shouldn’t be as surprised about as he is. He doesn’t know why he ever doubted that Annie could do casual sex because she definitely can. She’s never once gotten too overly attached or brought too many feelings in.

It’s almost like the whole thing he had two years ago with Britta. Except for all the ways it’s not…

Don’t get him wrong, he loves Britta as a friend, but they never meshed the way him and Annie did. Sure, they get along and they’re definitely good friends but there was never really any hanging out with Britta.

With Britta it was always a quickie in his car or the bathroom, anywhere really, but then they went back to their lives as if nothing happened.

With Annie…she comes to his apartment and they actually hang out. Sometimes they don’t even have sex. They watch tv, order takeout, talk. It’s weird. Jeff’s never had a girl he likes spending one-on-one time with. Well, that’s not entirely true, he enjoys Shirley and Britta’s company, but that’s on a different level.

Annie’s hanging out at his apartment several nights a week and he doesn’t feel smothered at all. He doesn’t want to go out to the bar and hook up with random girls or go to parties at his old law firm or even just spend the night alone in his apartment. And when Annie’s not around, he actually finds himself missing her company.

He actually wants a woman he’s having sex with around when he’s not having sex with her.

This should scare him.

He brushes it off though, he tells himself over and over that him and Annie are just friends, really great friends. There’s no romantic feelings involved. Not at all.

He sighs and rubs a hand over his face.

Annie’s just a friend who he occasionally has sex with.

It’s fine.

It worked with Britta. Just because the situation with Annie is a little bit different doesn’t mean it will blow-up in his face.

* * *

In February, after this has been going on for a solid 2 and a half months, she finds out he watches Grey’s Anatomy. Of course she teases him mercilessly, but he finally agrees he’ll watch it with her, if she promises to keep it a secret from the rest of the group.

That’s how Thursday’s become their thing. She comes over, they have dinner, they watch Grey’s Anatomy, then they do other things…and she normally stays the night. Jeff never asks her what she tells Abed and Troy, but he figures it must be a good excuse because he’s never heard them question her on it.

This is dangerous territory. He’s aware of that. Annie’s spending the night at his house once a week, she has some clothes stored in his closet, she even has her own designated coffee mug. All this information should, for all intents and purposes, scare the shit out of him. But it doesn’t. It almost comforts him in a weird way. And that should scare him more than anything.

He sighs and shakes his head. Okay, so maybe there’s a little bit of non-friendship things going on, but aside from that…they’re just friends. Best friends.

They don’t do couple-y things ever, except for maybe eat ice cream out of the same bowl or sometimes fall asleep cuddled on the couch. But friends do that too, right?

* * *

When March rolls around, Annie goes on a date. And he may or may not freak out a little. But that’s just his overprotective side coming out like always.

It’s not like he’s getting too attached. If Annie wants to date other people, he’s totally okay with that. He doesn’t get jealous.

To clarify, he was never jealous of Rich or Vaughn. They just weren’t good enough for Annie. Plus, he hates them, so yeah. That’s all that was.

He could totally go out and take another girl home too, but there’s no reason for that. He isn’t looking for anything more than sex and what he has with Annie is pretty great. So it seems like kind of a waste of time to try and charm another girl into his bed, when all he has to do is call Annie. Except for tonight, because Annie is on a date.

Maybe he should just go to the bar and pick up a random woman. It would be better than sitting around his apartment and thinking about Annie’s date. Yep, that’s what he’s going to do. He heads to the bathroom and redoes his hair, making sure every strand is in the right place to perfect his disheveled look. After he’s satisfied, he heads to his closet, looking over his shirts. He completely ignores the back corner of his closet that contains several colorful skirts and cardigans. Do not think about Annie! He scolds himself and grabs a gray button down that will bring out his eyes.

He sighs and buttons up his shirt. He’s going to go out to the bar, have a good time, maybe take a girl home, and he’s not going to think of Annie. At all.

When Jeff hears a knock at his door, he has a moment of excitement. Maybe Annie’s date went horrible and she skipped out early and came over to his place? But he quickly squashes that thought because if it’s anyone than Annie on the other side of the door, he’ll be so disappointed. As he nears the door he tells himself it’s Britta with her one-eyed cat or Pierce with a hooker or Chang, anything will be better than that. He opens the door to find a very disheveled looking Annie and he gets this light feeling in his chest at realizing Annie is here. It must be raining because she’s soaking wet, there’s some dirt on her dress and her heels are in her hand.

“Bad date?” He asks smirking at her.

“Shut up!” She huffs, but falls into his arms anyway.

“You’re muddy and wet and this is a new shirt.” Jeff complains but wraps his arms around her anyway.

“Ugh,” she groans pressing her face into his shirt. They stand like that for a minute before Annie starts shivering and he pulls away.

“Even though wet and dirty Annie is my favorite…” He trails off earning Annie’s usual look of shock.

“Jeff! Gross!” She cries smacking him lightly on the chest, but he can see the corners of her lips turn up slightly.

“Go take a shower, then maybe we can actually do some fun things.” He bends low to murmur the last part in her ear and smiles when he can feel her shiver.

“That can be arranged.” Annie smiles walking off toward the bathroom. Jeff shakes his head and goes to his room unbuttoning his shirt along the way. He has almost completely forgotten his earlier plans to go to L Street as he throws on a plain t-shirt and tosses the wet one into the hamper. He settles down on the couch flipping the TV on and patiently waiting for Annie to come out.

He’s momentarily startled when she walks out in one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxers. It only takes him a moment to snap out of it, but then he’s staring at her again because, well, she looks pretty attractive in his clothes. After months of doing this thing, Annie can still completely surprise him.

“Is this okay…?” She asks shifting under his gaze. “I didn’t really want to put any of my skirts on, so I borrowed some of your clothes.” That’s when Jeff realizes he hasn’t said anything since she came out and he quickly shakes his head clear.

“Uh, yeah,” he mutters, his voice low and raspy.

“This is doing it for you?” Annie asks with a laugh.

“You’re wearing my clothes, I’m pretty sure that does it for every guy.” He comments with an eye roll as she sits down next to him on the couch.

“Mmmm,” she hums shifting closer to him, kissing him softly. “Glad I could be of service then, Mr. Winger.” Jeff kisses her back shifting their positions so she’s lying against the armrest of the couch and he’s hovering over her. He presses light kisses down her neck.

“So, what went wrong on the date?” Annie sighs pushing him away slightly.

“Are we really going to talk about my date while we’re making out?” Jeff shrugs, but makes no move to change their current position.

“Just curious.”

“Just curious? That’s really what you’re going with?”

“Yes. What else would I be going with?” He asks harshly finally sitting up. He wants to kick himself for mentioning her date because that definitely ruined the mood. But he has to know what happened.

“Jeff, you’ve been acting like a jealous boyfriend all day.” Annie mentions brushing through her wet hair with her hand.

“Well, I’m not your boyfriend.” He quickly retorts and Annie rolls her eyes.

“I didn’t say you were. I said you were acting like a jealous one, which shouldn’t even surprise me. You were the same way with Rich and Vaughn.”

“Psh, I was not like this with Vaughn.” He says immediately.

“Hah! So you admit you did this with Rich!”

“No, I just hated Rich.”  
“Whatever Jeff.” Annie mutters crossing her arms relaxing into the back of the couch. He runs a hand across his face thinking over his actions of the day. Okay, maybe he had been acting a tad like a jealous boyfriend…

“If I admit I was acting like a jealous boyfriend today, will you like me again?”

“It just really sucks when you ignore me all day.” She admits quietly, the hurt in her voice clear. Shit, he’s actually the worst person in the world.

“Annie-“ He whispers apologetically. “I’m really sorry, okay?”

“You can’t tell me to go on dates one minute and then stop talking to me when I do.” Annie lets her head fall back so she’s staring at the ceiling. “I know you don’t want a relationship and I’m okay with that, but you have to be okay with me also dating other people.” He feels his heart constrict slightly at her words and he wants to tell her that’s not fair, but before he can get the words out he realizes he’s the one being unfair.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Annie looks over at him, a smile threatening to take over her face.

“What was that?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t think I did. Did you say I was right?” He raises an eyebrow in amusement.

“Should’ve got this on videotape, Jeff Winger admitting he was wrong.”

“Shut up, Edison.”

“Thank you.” Annie says sincerely leaning over to kiss his cheek. And he realizes making Annie happy makes him happier than it should.

“But seriously what happened on the date?”

“He decided to take me on a picnic.” Annie reveals slightly unwillingly and Jeff laughs.

“That sounds like a certain small-nippled, three greeting, no shirt wearing hippie that we used to know.”

“His name was Vaughn.” She replies unamused.

“I know, but it was more fun to say it that way.” He shrugs unapologetically. “So, he takes you on a picnic…”

“Well, we got there and it was fine, I guess. My dress wasn’t really fit for a picnic, but you know I can work with that. But he was so weird, Jeff! He kept talking about his weird troll collection and all I could think was what if he had a Torg and it would freak Troy out,” she rambles and Jeff can’t help but laugh at her obvious distress. She sends him a pointed glare before continuing. “So, I was already thinking I had to get out of there and then it started raining and he didn’t want to pack it up. HE WANTED TO SIT OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN, JEFF!”

“Annie, that’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah, but he was really creepy and the park was kind of deserted and it was pouring.” Jeff smiles amusedly at her trying to take in her entire story. “God, I’m never letting Britta set me up ever again.”

“He really had a troll collection?”

“Yes! And he had some in the picnic basket.” She cringes and he can’t help but smile at how adorable she looks.

“Why would you let Britta set you up in the first place?”

“I didn’t want you to think I was getting too attached to this…” Annie admits quietly after a long silence.

“Well don’t worry about that, okay?” She nods and he pulls her closer hoping he’s at least stopped her from dating, for now. “Good.” He murmurs pressing a kiss into her hair.

* * *

Jeff meets his dad in April, which is sort of a long time coming. He tries not to treat it as a big deal, he doesn’t want to put too much stake in it. He doesn’t tell anyone about it, other than Annie and he swears her to secrecy. He really doesn’t want Britta trying to dissect his relationship with his father or Abed making way too accurate observations or Shirley baking him pies and cakes. He needs to do this alone and he needs to deal with it alone.

So, one Friday night, that he could’ve been spending at a bar with hot women (or with Annie), he meets his dad for dinner. Jeff half expects him to not even show up, but he gets to the restaurant and there sits the infamous William Winger. He controls the urge to just punch the man in the face and walk out. His therapist had told him it wouldn’t bring him the closure he needed. Jeff steels himself and walks over to the table, taking a seat across from the man who had abandoned him and his mom.

It goes terribly, of course. Fifteen minutes into the dinner and it becomes clear that his father has no intention of bringing up any of his past discretions. He’s merely making small talk with Jeff, as if they’re two old friends out to dinner and it pisses him off more than he can even say. Everything devolves from that point.

Jeff keeps bringing up his childhood, hinting at William’s abandonment and William continues to deflect. Eventually, Jeff explodes. He finally says everything to his father that he’s needed to say, the things that he had yelled at Pierce that day, and more than that. His father’s face seems permanently set into a thin line and his non-reaction makes Jeff even angrier.

When he finally calms down, his chest is heaving trying to catch his breath after his outburst, and his father is staring down at his plate. He stands and gives Jeff a curt nod and walks out of the restaurant.

Once Jeff is back in his car, he fires off a text to Annie, telling her it went fine and not to worry and all the things he knows will get Annie off his back. He drives around for awhile before realizing he just wants to be home. He collapses onto his couch in exhaustion, trying hard not to think about what had happened in the last hour. He’s very tempted to get out his bottle of scotch and drink himself into a coma, even though he knows he’ll regret in the morning.

Nodding his head in resolution, he heads to the kitchen and pulls a tumbler out of the cabinet, grabs the bottle of scotch, and relaxes back onto the couch.

He completely ignores the knock on his door. They’ll go away eventually. No one knows that he’s here. He groans quietly when they knock again, this time louder and more persistent. He takes another swig of scotch and wills away their presence.

“Jeff! I know you’re in there!” The person yells and Jeff sighs because it’s Annie. He’s just had one of the worst nights in his existence and of course Annie somehow knows.

“Jeff,” she repeats quieter this time. “Look, if you don’t want to let me in I can go, but I thought you might want someone to talk to.” She says and Jeff can practically feel her awkwardness from his place on the couch. He moves into action and opens the door because fuck it all. He wants Annie here with him and he can figure out what that means later. He hurls the door open with more force than necessary and Annie blinks in surprise.

“Hey, I just wanted-“ But he doesn’t let her finish her sentence before he’s pulling her into him, in probably a crushing hug. To her credit, she doesn’t say anything; she merely wraps his arm around his middle and rubs soothing circles against his back.

They stand there for awhile, until Jeff pulls away finally and takes her hand leading her over to the couch. They don’t speak as she sits down next to him, gently combing her fingers through his hair as he tries to get his thoughts together.

“How’d you know?” He finally asks hoping she gets the unspoken half of the question. 

“Well your text was deprived of details either good or bad, so I figured it must have gone bad because you would tell me if it went well. And as someone who also knows a lot about parental abandonment, I figured no matter how it went you might want someone.” She says with a shrug.

“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?” He asks with a disbelieving laugh. She beams at him for a second, before sobering.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I got to say to him what I wanted to and it feels good to have it all off my chest. Even if it wasn’t that well received.” Annie nods and her face takes on this knowing expression that he almost wants to ask about, but he figures he’ll let it be for now.

“I’m really proud of you, Jeff.” He feels his heart soar at those words and he tugs her a little closer. He knew he was doing the right thing tonight and he feels a lot better now that he’s finally done it, but hearing Annie say that makes it all so much more worth it. He thinks he would probably walk through fire if it would make her proud of him. Provided the fire didn’t leave any marks on his flawless body, he’s got to keep the moneymaker in consideration. And by moneymaker he doesn’t just mean his face.

* * *

It’s May and they’re graduating. Tomorrow will be their very last day at Greendale and even though Jeff has been bemoaning this place since he showed up freshman year, he’s a little upset. He’s come to love this place and it’s off-brand weirdos. Except Leonard, he’ll always hate Leonard.

But as he’s sitting at the back of the gym watching everyone dance around at the annual Tranny Dance, he can’t help the bittersweet feeling that creeps in and he wonders why he wanted to get out of here so fast in the first place. His eyes land on Annie, who’s dancing wildly with Britta and he suddenly realizes he has no idea what’s going to happen with them when they graduate.

Their casual arrangement had turned into a lot more than that and in the last couple weeks Jeff had come to understand the feeling he has every time he’s around Annie is love. He’s in love with Annie Edison. In retrospect, it shouldn’t surprise him all that much. Of course she worked her way into his heart. If anyone could, it’d be Annie. He glances at the clock, 9 PM. In exactly 12 hours, they’ll be leaving Greendale behind for good. He needs to talk to Annie.

“Reality starts to hit Jeff as he looks around the gym. He’s always known his time with Annie was fleeting but now-“

“Abed!” Jeff snaps. “What did I tell you about narrating?” Abed shrugs.

“Tell Annie how you feel. The big will-they/won’t-they couple typically gets together in the finale.” Abed nods. “Take her out to where you kissed her after the Tranny Dance freshman year. It will give the series a nice symmetry.” Jeff glares at him and shoves his phone into his pocket as he stands up. “Where are you going?”

“To talk to Annie.” Jeff growls out , wishing (not for the first time) he could do something without the entire group finding out.

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” Abed nods as Jeff walks away. “Hey Jeff?” He turns around expectantly looking at his friend. “Good luck.”

“Thanks Abed.” Jeff smiles at him before turning to the dance floor to find Annie. She’s in the middle of some nonsense with Shirley, but he unpolitely cuts in.

“Can I talk to you outside?” She must sense the urgency in his tone because she immediately nods, forgetting to chastise him for ruining her time with Shirley. He grabs her hand and quickly leads her outside, far away from the gym and the prying eyes of their friends. When he turns back toward her, he almost can’t believe how much has changed since the last time they were out there, in the same position. When Britta and Slater had told him they loved him and he ran away and somehow right to Annie…he shook his head. No time to focus on the past now. He had to get this out.

“Jeff, what are we-“ He holds up a hand to stop her.

“Just- just let me say this, okay?” Annie nods hesitantly and bites her lower lip. He has to stop himself from kissing her right then and talking later. No, he has to tell her now. “I know when we started this,” he says gesturing between them. “We both agreed that there were no feelings involved and we were just friends and we weren’t in a relationship, but Annie, I can’t do this anymore.” He pauses thinking of what to say next and he notices the crestfallen look on her face, so he quickly continues. “I don’t mean-“ He squeezes his eyes shut.

“God, I’m normally so good with speeches and this is just not coming out right.” He mutters with a wry laugh. “I’m in love with you, Annie.” He states and continues talking before she can say anything else. “I can’t keep pretending like we’re just friends. You were the only one I told about my dad, you’re the only one I tell about a lot of things, Annie. I want to see where we could go outside of Greendale and the study group. You’re my best friend, but I want more than that. I know that this isn’t what we talked about and I understand if you want to see what else is out there. You’re only 22 and if you’re not ready to tie yourself down to a relationship this early, I get it. You have the whole world at your fingertips and I’m an old cynical lawyer, who never does anything right. I know that but-“

“Shut up, Jeff.” She cuts him off and he finally lets his eyes drift down to her to see her beaming up at him. “I love you too.” Annie says reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and his immediately go to her waist. She kisses him gently and then pulls away resting her forehead against his. “You could have stopped after the ‘I love you’ part.” She giggles smiling widely at him.

“Shut up, Edison.” He replies in a teasing tone, kissing her again.

“Annnnnnd scene!” Abed says coming out from behind a bush, the rest of the group slowly following him. Jeff and Annie jump apart in surprise.

“Have you guys been here the whole time?” Jeff asks in a sputter.

“We heard your girly speech, if that’s what you’re asking, Winger.” Pierce replies.

“Once I knew you were going to talk to Annie, I brought everyone else out here. This seemed like a good place to end the series, but since, at its heart, the show was about a study group who became a family I felt it needed to end in a group scene.”

“You couldn’t have just waited until we came back inside to end the series?” Jeff questions, his tone exasperated.

“I figured you guys would sneak off to have sex without saying goodbye.” Abed reveals in an indifferent tone. “Was I wrong?” Annie mumbles out incoherent syllables and Jeff keeps his mouth set in a firm line.

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow morning for graduation.” Jeff grounds out grabbing Annie’s hand and pulling her toward the parking lot.

“Bye guys!” She waves a smile on her face.

“Well, that’s nice.” Shirley says once they’re out of sight.

“I don’t understand why Jeff won’t admit that he’s gay.” Pierce mutters shaking his head.

“Jeff isn’t gay, Pierce.” Britta defends crossing her arms.

“Of course you’d say that. You’re just jealous he chose Annie as his beard instead of you.”

“Shut up, Pierce!” Troy and Britta both yell.

“If this really was a television show we would’ve stopped talking as soon as Jeff and Annie walked off and the screen would have faded to black.” Abed mentions.

“So this is really the end, man?” Troy asks in a distressed voice.

“It can’t be.” Abed finally says shaking his head.

“Why not?”

“SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE!”


End file.
